x, and if there's a possibility that you'd be using a wide range of marketing channels to promote your business, that's a lot of money you are investing. For all that money, there ought to be an ROI. On SEP, we cover a lot on analytics, dashboards, and ROI.

But almost always, there's emphasis on Google Analytics. Of course Google Analytics is awesome. Andrew Marsh recently published a post on how to interpret Google Analytics data. He points out how your traffic patterns work, how traffic patterns shift over time, and also know a lot more about how your blogging, SEO, social media, and email marketing campaigns work.

It's even better if you can setup a streamlined, all-inclusive workflow for your analytics. In most cases, you'll require a combination of other tools along with Google Analytics. Here's how you can do it:

General Web Analytics Dashboards

If you are online, you want to measure traffic, bounce rates, time spent on pages, what visitors do on pages, where they come from, and the devices they use, etc. Here are the best dashboards for you to consider:

Google Analytics

Its your main analytics engine, but it can only tell you so much. Its designed to help websites of all types and all sizes. For larger sites, Google Analytics does have issues in terms of sampling as Adam Cassar of Periscopic detailed in this post.

With Google Analytics, you can create specific dashboards for all sorts of goals and track almost everything you wanted to. Marcela De Vivo helpfully points to specific dashboards for SEO, PPC, Brand Monitoring, Brand Engagement, Social Media, and more.

Start with Google Analytics, but don't just stop there.

Cyfe

Cyfe is a different animal. It's a dashboard that brings in the numbers from almost all of your web properties and not just your website, social media, email campaigns, paid advertising, and others. For instance, you can pull in the numbers for the following:

Pull in instances of customer service tickets from Zendesk or Salesforces Desk.

Know how many people signed up, attended, and viewed your webinars on GoToWebinar

Get instant numbers on how many people view or download your slide decks on SlideShare

Track traffic and conversions on your Unbounce landing pages.

If you run out of pre-built widgets available at Cyfe, you can build your own custom widgets.

Social Analytics Dashboards

Social media is tricky — its not just about making pitches, putting up ads, and looking for conversions when it comes to this medium. There are also conversations, engagement, and traction.

There's branding, brand monitoring, conversation management, and more. Just knowing how many visitors came to your pages from Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn wont give you the complete picture.

Simply Measured

Google Analytics tells you how each social network contributes to your traffic inflow. It can also point out how these visitors flow from social networks to your site, and also how and where they drop off. Meanwhile, you can track social conversions too.

Yet, Google Analytics doesn't tell how each of your social networks is performing. How many Twitter followers did you gain in the past month? How has your did your Facebook business page grow? Simply Measured has a robust set of tools to help you understand your social networks better. You also have a free set of tools to try.

Hootsuite

Now, HootSuite isn't new to us here. Most of us use HootSuite to engage, interact, schedule posts, and more. But there's analytics built in for HootSuite that you can use to pull out information in a variety of ways to get insights on your social media performance. Reports can be dug up for your profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn pages.

Lead/Conversion Dashboards

Every business has focus on leads generated. It's not hard to see why, of course. Its critical for cash flow and its the crux for generating profits. Thankfully, you have a way to track leads and conversions with virtually any tool you might be using for lead generation.

Landing Pages

Let's assume that you use Unbounce, LanderApp, Wishpond, or KickOffPages for building landing pages. Each of these tools has an in-built analytics dashboard for you to stay on top of your numbers. Of course, you could always track landing page performance from a single dashboard like Google Analytics or Cyfe. There could still be some data missing, however.

Consider Unbounce: if you use A/B testing, you'd have the performance of each variant matched with the other variant. Now, this data won't get into your Google Analytics (what gets in is standalone performance of either variant).

Email Campaigns

Generally, you'd be able to track results of your email campaigns on GA. But then, if you'd like to know a lot more such as open rates, subscriber counts, unsubscribes, results off subject line A/B tests, and field conversations off email campaigns, dig into the analytics and reports that your email provider gives you.

A/B Testing For Web Pages

If you do A/B testing on any of your web pages, the results of your tests are hard to find from Google Analytics. Now, each page can have a goal and you can measure goals achieved for each page.

But why go that extra mile when Optimizely has analytics that show you how your tests are performing? For every design element, page, blog post, and various calls to action, going into Optimizely Analytics is still a viable option. Either that or build a custom widget to port this data into Cyfe.

To Wrap Up

The good news is that instead of logging into every tool you use for lead generation, email campaigns, paid ads, social media, and more, you can just use a combination of one or two that you're comfortable with. When you're getting full value from your existing options, you can considering adding the next tool to your arsenal.

You may thinking a coach or a paid mentor is something you can’t afford, but the better question to ask yourself is can you really afford not to have one? Coaches come from every profession and can offer you valuable structure, insights and motivation to take your business and yourself to the next level. There […]

I'm sure you have all heard this line copious amounts of times from friends, co-workers and even business relations. For some of you this may have been all the convincing you needed to give blogging a go. But there are still many of you out there that are just not certain blogging can really have that much of an impact on your business.

Instead of just listing impressive statistics like "companies who blog receive 67% more leads every month than those who do not" I'm going to show you ten reasons why you should be blogging and the direct benefits it can have on your business. Trust me, if you were sceptical about blogging before, after reading this, you will be shouting the benefits of blogging from the rooftops.

1. Blogging Is Not Just A Quick Fix – It Is A Long-term Solution

Writing a weekly or even a monthly blog can have dramatic impact on your business. You may find the prospect of writing a blog every week extremely daunting – but do not panic. There is plenty of content out there to inspire you; it is simply knowing where to find it. Ensure you follow and read as many blogs as you can, they do not have to be related to your business but they will allow you to familiarise yourself with the different styles and formats that blogs can have. Also, try and keep up to date with the latest industry news, there may be a new piece of technology introduced or a new piece of legislation brought in which you may feel you want to write about.

Once you begin to find your feet, it will become apparent that the world of blogging really isn't as complex as you may have first thought. The one key thing to remember is that you must establish a routine when it comes to posting your blog. Give your readers a day when they know a new blog will be posted. Try once a month to begin with and slowly increase it to every week if possible. Remember, the benefits of blogging will not make themselves known immediately. If you are only able to blog once a month, it will take some time before you see results. However, if you are consistent and follow the rest of the tips in this blog, you will be amazed at the benefits blogging will bring to your business.

2. Blogging Can Drive Traffic To Your Website And Your Other Online Platforms

Blogging is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website. By providing suitable links from your blog page back to your main website you are ensuring that those audiences who have enjoyed reading your blog can easily visit your website. As well as this being a real positive for increasing traffic, this movement in traffic will also noted by Google and can significantly improve your businesses SEO.

By ensuring that you also include your businesses social media logos on your blog, you are again encouraging audiences to visit your other online platforms. The main thing to remember here is that the more information you include for your audience, the easier you make it for them to interact and engage and the more likely it is that they will. Include small call to actions, encourage audiences to 'Like you on Facebook' or 'Follow you on Twitter. Blogging is a great way to start off a chain reaction from one online platform to another, just remember you need to pave the way to make it easy for audiences to do so.

3. Blogging Is A Great Way To Convert Traffic Into Customers

One statistic, which demonstrates this benefit of blogging, is that 92% of companies who blogged multiple times a day acquired a customer through their blog. Although posting a blog multiple times a day may not be possible for you and your company, this statistic demonstrates the benefits that blogging can bring to your business. By capturing audiences via your blog, they are more likely to visit your website and your other online profiles. It all leads back to diverting traffic to your website and encouraging that traffic to invest in your business.

Still not convinced? One of the best success stories comes from a business that was propelled from 0 to 100,000 customers through the use of guest blogging. BufferApp are a social media app that makes publishing on social media sites easier for users. All customers have to do is create an account with which they place all their content and then Buffer posts the content to their different social media sites throughout the day, automatically. Eradicating the need to have an employee sit and manually post on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any of their other social media platforms. The company achieved 100,000 users within 9 months solely through writing approximately 150 guest blogs for other sites. This is an incredible achievement and something that as you can see, takes time, persistence and demonstrates that blogging is not a quick fix. However, it shows the huge benefits that guest blogging or simply blogging can have on your business.

4. It Can Help Give You And Your Business Authority Within Your Industry

Writing a blog is an excellent way of making your business stand out in your industry sector. By showing your peers that you take an interest in events or developments within your industry can quickly ensure you are considered the 'go-to-business' for advice. Blogging and demonstrating your businesses knowledge often guarantees return custom. Readers will return time and time again to your blog because they understand and appreciate exactly what they are going to get.

5. Every Time You Blog, You Are Improving Your Business' SEO

SEO is extremely important for any business operating on the web and is something that many find confusing. However, blogging is an extremely easy and efficient way of improving your business' SEO.

When someone types a question or query into Google, the search engine automatically looks for articles with similar keywords. Therefore, if you have written a blog which shares the same topic and uses several of the same keywords mentioned, there is a good chance that Google will notice this and your article will be shown as a result. Therefore, you are expanding your demographic and improving your SEO without having to spend any money. Also, by including links within your blog, either to your own website or other blogs, this can also have an extremely positive effect on your SEO. It is about your website linking to other relevant online sources and hopefully other relevant online sources linking back to you.

6. Blogging Is A Sure Fire Way To Create Great Content

Blogging is all about content, and I'm sure you have heard many people say 'Content is King'. One amazing thing about writing a weekly blog is that you are instantly creating great, original content. Your latest blog can become a Facebook question supported with a link to your blog, a tweet informing followers that a new blog has been posted, or a LinkedIn debate. What else better to post on your own businesses social media pages then your new business blog?

By posting your blog to your social media pages, it also ensures that those people who follow you on Twitter, for example, but are not familiar with your blog or your website, may take the time to visit your site and read your blog. Remember to encourage interaction and engagement by posting your blog with a call to action.

7. Use The Opportunity Of Writing Blogs To Create Great Public Relations

Another brilliant benefit of blogging is that it can also greatly improve your businesses public relations, but best of all, at no extra cost! Blogging is a great way to create a positive online image for your business and it is also an opportunity to build upon and improve business relations. If you have recently read a blog post written by another company and it has provided you with inspiration for your blog post, then ensure you add a link back to their blog. This is something that is greatly received by bloggers and even more so by businesses. It may also ensure that the business thinks of you the next time they post a blog and provide you with a link back.

8. Blogging Allows You To Strengthen Business And Customer Relationships

Encouraging engagement with your blog is something that most definitely should be done every time you post. Do not be shocked or surprised if this occasionally includes the odd negative comment. When someone takes the time to comment on your blog, it is considered courteous to comment back – even if it is negative. Blog engagement is something that is viewed highly by Google and it could increase your chances of being found on the search engine. Even negative comments, which can be difficult at times to deal with, should be answered in the same way as comments of praise. Answering negative comments shows your business in a positive light, and many readers will appreciate you for taking time to deal with complaints. It is also vitally important to take on board comments left by customers, especially if it is regarding your products or services. They can often provide you with a great insight into what they feel needs altering or what products they would like to see introduced.

9. Blogging Allows You To Give Your Business Personality

It is often difficult for businesses to show personality at times, however, when you write your own blog, it provides you with an opportunity to inject some life into your online profiles. Your website and many other social media platforms are usually kept professional and corporate, however with a blog, you allow audiences to interact with your business through the use of comments, likes and shares. It is important to consider your brand personality when writing your blog. How can you make your business seem more approachable? More likeable? Use your blog as a gateway to showing a different side to your business.

10. Blogging Gives Your Business A Voice

By writing a blog weekly or even monthly, it gives your business a voice and an opportunity to inform people about your latest news and business happenings. Due to their personal natures, blogs have been rated the 5th most trusted source for accurate online information – this is because the consumer is being given information straight from the horses mouth. It is your chance to have your say as a business, so make sure that you give the right impression. What is it that you want your readers, audiences and clients to know and what lasting impression would you like to make?

So there you have it, the top ten reasons why you should be blogging to help your business. As you can see the benefits that can be achieved can have a major impact on your business, they often just take time to appear. Like everything, blogging is never and will never be a quick fix. It will take time to find your feet and gain a trusted following of readers. However, once you are prepared to invest that bit of time and hard work at the beginning, the effects will continually be felt so long as you keep blogging. And the best bit about all of this is – it will not cost your business anything, as blogging is completely free. So what are you waiting for? You surely can't need any more persuading? Get out there and get blogging.

Here is some great info direct from Google about how it can be used to drive more affiliate sales. Some affiliates say Google hates affiliates, but Google does not. They just hate THIN affiliate sites. So here, direct from the horse's mouth, are some insights about how do to affiliate marketing right. Also goes into higher level stuff like APIS, how network links are constructed and how tracking and cookies work.

As a busy entrepreneur, you have been conditioned to consume an overwhelming amount of information by feverishly scrolling and swiping your way through hundreds of brief news updates and 140-character industry tidbits, so reading actual books from cover to cover has become somewhat of a luxury that many of us can only fit into our […]

The post Blinkist Helps You Read Books in Only 15 Minutes appeared first on Blogtrepreneur - The Business of Blogging For Busy Entrepreneurs.

Twitter quietly rolled out a huge and needed update to its developing analytics offering for businesses using its ad system to promote tweets and accounts. Google obviously rules the roost when it comes to advertising on the web, but as Google continues to try and find its own footing with the Hummingbird update to better […]

now the meaning of integrated marketing, it's hard to define every aspect and it can be even harder to implement.

Fortunately, with a little bit of effort and a better understanding it's actually not that hard to create an integrated marketing strategy and reap the benefits of this age-old idea. As the web continues to change, the sooner you can get started, the better.

What Is Integrated Marketing?

There are really two different ways to look at integrated marketing, both of which are significant in their own right.

First, integrated marketing is all about meshing the different departments and aspects of a business together to create something significant (whatever that may be) for a company. I once explained here that it's one of those "the whole benefits the individual" type of mentalities, and that still holds true today.

Second, integrated marketing can be seen as a way to keep consistent brand messaging across traditional and non-traditional marketing channels. This means everything from ads in a newspaper, to local pages online, to videos uploaded to YouTube. Anything and everything needs to be consistent and connected, or integrated, within that same solid message.

In other words, integrated marketing is both about the people and the jobs in a company as well as the messages you are putting out to the public. Everyone needs to be integrated with one another, and everything needs to be integrated with everything else regarding your brand.

How Integrated Marketing Has Changed Over the Years

Part of understanding integrated marketing is not only realizing what it is, but what actually makes it what it is. In the introduction I talked about how integrated marketing has changed over the years. It's not necessarily that the what has changed so much as the how. To put it simply, integrated marketing has always been the idea that different marketing channels and aspects worked together for a common goal, but those marketing channels and aspects have changed.

Years ago this concept applied typically to public relations, advertisers, and customer service. Now we have different online channels to think about including social media, mobile shopping and apps, reviews, images and video, and much more. All of this in addition to the older and more traditional roles of marketing has made integrated marketing more complicated and hard to implement. Its not that the idea has changed, just the way you need to go about it.

So of course the next question is simple: How do you actually make sure you're practicing integrated marketing with your business?

5 Step Integrated Marketing Plan

There are a few different steps you can take to start implementing an integrated marketing strategy that will really last:

Set business goals and create a targeted message. This is first and foremost. You have to integrate your staff and your messages into something that is solid, and that needs to be your message (in fact, having business goals set from the start is essentially for just about anything you're trying to do in a company).

Communicate with staff. Educate your staff on integrated marketing and on your business goals and message.

Create a plan. Your advertising should build on your content strategy, your SEO should help drive your email marketing, your PPC campaigns should help drive conversion testing, your customer service should lean on the content you just published, etc. Figure out how each department can really work together and make that clear. The possibilities here are endless.

Hold weekly meetings between different departments. Make sure your departments are meeting with each other regularly and understand the overall plan for each to work together. When they meet, there should be an agenda.

Manage performance. Your analytics should help you see the impact of integration, so pay close attention so you can see where your company may need more work.

So how is integrated marketing different than branding? You might have realized that many of the lessons of this mentality are very similar to when people use the word branding. On a basic level they can mean the same thing and you will still see success. If you want to dig deeper into it, branding refers more to the message you're putting out to the public as opposed to how you're going to make sure that the message is consistent.

The Takeaway

Creator of Duct Tap Marketing John Jantsch called this "Clarity" in one of his articles, and explained that a company that really gets it starts with a simple unified strategy. He said:

Clarity goes beyond some of the traditional definitions of marketing strategy as it suggests that an organization understand the one thing above all that they want to be known as and they use that as the filter for everything they do.

He went on to say that oftentimes this underlying message has nothing to do with your specific product or service, but rather rests on things like purpose and community. I couldnt have said it better myself; I feel that this sums up integrated marketing perfectly. Take this message with you and talk with your company to create something that will last amidst all of the changes that will continue to come with marketing options.

Has your company created a solid integrated marketing mentality? Let us know what you think about the concept and your personal stories in the comment section below.

Yesterday Google released a completely new recommendation engine that redefines how both affiliates and merchants can find and take advantage of affiliate marketing opportunities. Below are a few highlights from the announcement.

Affiliated Business is a social network of bloggers, webmasters, and Internet entrepreneurs. It allows you to publish and share your news and to discover the best resources, tips, and ideas concerning affiliate marketing, blogging, homebusiness and making money online. You can submit your stories, vote for interesting news, take part in discussions, and network with other site users.